Chelsea may still be understaffed when they travel to Molineux Stadium on Saturday to face Wolverhampton Wanderers, but there is some good news for Liam Rosenior’s side — Cole Palmer and Estevao will be available to play 90 minutes after making appearances off the bench in Tuesday’s EFL Cup defeat at Arsenal.
Estevao was amongst the substitutes in the cup tie after returning from Brazil while on compassionate leave, while Palmer’s fitness was a lingering issue ahead of the match. Rosenior waited until the afternoon of the match to make his team selection, eventually choosing to practice caution with Palmer as a busy season continues. The England international is off to a productive start since Rosenior took over for Enzo Maresca last month with a goal and two assists in four games, though the new coach’s primary task might just be figuring out how to snap Palmer’s cold streak.
Palmer broke out last season with a 15 goal campaign in the Premier League, the vast majority of them coming before new year’s day in 2025. He has just five goals since January 20 of last year, a stretch of 29 matches in which his overall productivity has dropped. He scored 14 league goals in 21 matches before the slump began at the start of 2025, averaging 0.6 expected goals from 3.5 shots per game along the way. It has been all downhill since – in the 29 matches since he scored at Bournemouth in January of last year, he averages just 0.3 expected goals from 2.7 shots in league play. The team’s overall attacking numbers have dropped, too – during Palmer’s 21 match hot streak, Chelsea averaged two goals per game from 2.1 expected goals, a number that is down to 1.3 goals per game from 1.7 expected goals in the 29 games since.
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How to watch Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Chelsea, odds
- Date: Saturday, Feb. 7 | Time: 10 a.m. ET
- Location: Molineux Stadium — Wolverhampton, England
- Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Wolverhampton Wanderers +400; Draw +300; Chelsea -150
The 23-year-old will likely have a chance to return to form on Saturday against Wolves, who are stuck in last place thanks in part to a porous defense that has conceded 45 goals in 24 matches and has just eight points so far this season. The match is unlikely to answer Chelsea’s larger attacking questions, in part because Rosenior will not have his full squad at his disposal. Reece James and Pedro Neto underwent fitness tests on Friday, their exact availability unclear, while Jamie Gittens will likely face a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a muscle injury.
“We don’t know yet [on James and Neto],” Rosenior said on Thursday. “We had training today, which was a recovery day for the lads who played in a really tough, physical game on Tuesday. We will check them tomorrow and make a decision then. Jamie is looking a little bit more long-term. It’s a real shame for him; he’s got a tear in his hamstring. That’s a real shame for him as, obviously, I’ve not worked with him for too long, but I know about his career and what an outstanding player he is. So that’s going to be a big miss for us.”
Chelsea’s downward turn is true despite Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez’s form this season, the pair doing their best to fill in the gaps left by Palmer. Joao Pedro has nine Premier League goals this campaign and Fernandez is right behind with eight, the pair buoying an otherwise ineffective Blues offense. In addition to Palmer’s slump, Gittens has yet to find a strong run of form since his summer move and has just one goal and five assists in 27 matches across all competitions. Liam Delap has also started his tenure with Chelsea slowly, scoring just three goals and notching one assist in 27 games across all competitions.
The Blues, well known at this point for their bloated squad, do not necessarily lack options but are missing quality. While Palmer feels like the type of player who needs to find the on switch rather than one who does not fit in, the rest of the attacking group may not be fit to the task of helping a youthful Chelsea come of age after winning two titles last season under Maresca.
UEFA coefficient race titles England’s ways
Chelsea’s attacking issues may be an impediment to winning silverware this season but in a topsy-turvy Premier League season, it might be enough to cross a different finish line – finishing in the UEFA Champions League spots, a race that still seems within the Blues’ control.
They enter the weekend one point behind Manchester United in fourth place, leaving the Red Devils with little wiggle room in the midst of a season defined by their resurgence towards the top end of the table. Chelsea have a cushion, though – English teams’ impressive showing in Europe will likely afford the Premier League another Champions League berth at season’s end. England are comfortably atop UEFA’s season association coefficient table after the league phases wrapped up at the end of January, all nine of the nation’s teams advancing to the next round in all three European club competitions. Portugal are a surprise contender in second after four of their five teams reached the next round in Europe.
A win against Wolves on Saturday will keep them in the race for a top five finish for at least another week but even with that stroke of luck, the Blues will still need to stay steady in the final months of the season. An unusually competitive Premier League campaign means that just five points separate United in fourth place and promoted side Sunderland in eighth, while last season’s champions Liverpool are right on Chelsea’s tails one point behind in sixth place. Getting the attacking details right will be crucial for Rosenior down the stretch since, as things stand, one of United, Chelsea or Liverpool could miss out on a Champions League berth next season.
